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Body found, woman held in Calif. Marine wife case

SAN DIEGO — Authorities arrested a woman Tuesday for investigation of murder after finding a body in their search for the missing wife of a U.S. Marine.

The body, discovered about a mile from a lake in a rural section of Riverside County, has not yet been identified as 22-year-old Brittany Killgore, who has been missing since Friday night, San Diego County sheriff's Capt. Duncan Frasier said.

Police provided no details on a possible motive or any evidence that led to the arrest.

Deputies arrested Jessica Lynn Lopez, 27, at a motel in San Diego. She was under guard at University of California, San Diego, Medical Center with unspecified injuries.

Frasier said she would be taken to jail after treatment.

Sheriff's officials said they were also investigating another Marine, Louis Ray Perez, 45, who was the last person seen with Killgore. Authorities have not disclosed the nature of their relationship.

Perez was arrested Sunday on an unrelated charge of possessing a AR-15 rifle stolen from Camp Pendleton.

He remained jailed on $500,000 bail and has refused to cooperate with investigators, who say he is being "actively investigated" in the case.

"He has not been charged with murder but we do have him in custody for weapons possession," Frasier said.

He called the woman's arrest Tuesday "the second arrest stemming from this investigation."

Frasier declined to say exactly where or in what condition the body was found, but said it was about a mile from Lake Skinner, which is about 25 miles northeast of Killgore's home in Fallbrook.

The news came after it was announced that Killgore's estranged husband — a Marine in Afghanistan — will return to California on emergency leave as authorities try to determine whether she met with foul play.

Killgore went missing after filing for divorce from Lance Cpl. Cory Killgore last week.

Her cellphone was found in the Gaslamp District of downtown San Diego, but authorities said it was unclear whether she actually left Fallbrook, where she lives.

Cory Killgore, 22, could be back at Camp Pendleton by the end of the week, said 1st Lt. Alex Lim, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division.

"One of his loved ones is missing and I can only hope the best for him," Lim said.

Authorities have said Killgore is not suspected in the disappearance of his wife.

Brittany Killgore lives in northern San Diego County, not far from Camp Pendleton.

Cory Killgore was deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year as a vehicle operator.

"Everyone attempts to move at the speed of light in Afghanistan when there's a bonafide emergency," Lim said about Killgore's return to California. "It's always been 'mission first, Marine always.'"